​With increasing focus on excellence in research and teaching, the service role of the university and the individual academic is often neglected. It is under-conceptualised and poorly rewarded. This book calls for greater recognition of this important aspect of academic life, identifying five virtues of academic citizenship - engagement, guardianship, loyalty, collegiality and benevolence. These are linked to the five inter-connecting communities served by university academics: students, colleagues, institutions, the discipline or profession, and the public. Drawing on university policy statements with respect to the service role from around the world, this book identifies the importance of academic citizenship in maintaining the infrastructure of institutional and academic life and in maintaining the compactbetween the university and wider society.